Lifestyle Medicine at work

Lifestyle Medicine is a medical discipline first described by the American College of Lifestyle Medicine that focuses on preventing, treating, and reversing chronic diseases through non-drug and non-invasive methods. Lifestyle Medicine preaches that there are six non-invasive domains to prevent, treat, and reverse complex conditions such as diabetes, heart disease, and hypertension. Although prescription drugs and medical procedures improve and save lives, they are overused even in cases where these six ways could have a more profound impact on human health. The ultimate goal of lifestyle medicine is for each person to be adequately equipped for better decision-making in multiple lifestyle areas at once to treat, reverse, and prevent diseases.

Lifestyle medicine professionals prescribe behavior changes rather than drugs that treat the cause of each disease, rather than address the symptoms. The founder of DNANUTRICOACH, Dr. Valentini Konstantinidou, has served as an ambassador of the European Lifestyle Medicine Organization and has given talks and lectures during its congresses.

The six areas of Lifestyle Medicine

Nutrition: Eating in a smart and personalized way is the No 1 tool that Lifestyle Medicine uses. If you want to explore and understand what personalized and precision nutrition means for you, book your online session today.
Exercise: Move more because every step counts. Whether it is a vigorous workout or a daily walk in the park, continuous exercise is crucial for our well-being and longevity. Every day something is more than nothing.
Sleep: Insomnia and/or poor-quality sleep weaken our immune system, dilute focus, and depress performance. A good night’s sleep is crucial to address stress and make days more productive.
Stress: In the form of anxiety, burnout, depression, or others stress can cost us our well-being and sometimes our life. Addressing and minimizing stressors is also a basic treatment in lifestyle medicine.
Relate: Cultivating meaningful relationships with others boosts the emotional and physical well-being of everyone who is interconnected. There is a direct tie between social isolation and poor health.
Addictions: Smoking, alcohol, substances, or even specific behaviors that cause addiction should be treated by a specialist healthcare professional because are also crucial for lifestyle medicine.

How to implement Lifestyle Medicine at work

Start small. Few companies will embrace lifestyle medicine activities overnight. That is why is important to start small. Begin a Lifestyle Medicine campaign to inform and raise awareness among your employees. Collect feedback and talk it up with evidence of improved health outcomes via Lifestyle Medicine. Contact us if you want to partner with us for the process.

Create challenges and incorporate behavior-change tools. Tack up posters in common areas explaining the benefits of lifestyle medicine and how to get it. Focus on one of the 6 pillars for every 2 months.

Let’s talk initiative. Talk about Lifestyle Medicine a little more every day. Gather your employees for an informative talk where they can ask questions, receive specific answers, and share their queries, problems, and difficulties with a specialist.

Educate your personnel. Organize regular workshops and training sessions of tips and how-tos implement lifestyle modifications in their everyday life depending on their position and needs.

Wellness gifts: Change the Christmas presents basket, birthday celebration menu, or fiesta with more Lifestyle Medicine-friendly ideas. A premium extra virgin olive from Crete or Kalamata instead of a bottle of wine, or a yoga mat instead of a chocolate box could be a start.

Corporate nutrition policy: Instead of pizzas and colas try a healthier menu from a local catering aligned with the principles of the Mediterranean diet. We can help you and give you more ideas.

Benefits of Lifestyle Medicine at work

Health is a major adult stressor (63%) together with money, work and the economy that leads to 550M $ annual lost workdays and 500B $ annual economic cost due to stress. Healthier and better-rested employees are also safer and more productive. Research continues to show that organizations with the healthiest cultures are those in which employee well-being is a top priority.

Creating a culture of health is more than performing a program here and there just to click on the ESG requirements, for example. Organizations that embrace lifestyle medicine as a way to improve employee health and control thrive and see improvements in their organizational culture that result in fewer days lost to illness, higher productivity, and stronger employee engagement.

Lifestyle medicine improves individual health outcomes and fosters a corporate culture of health. There was a 210% ROI during a six-month diabetes-focused lifestyle medicine pilot program at Vanderbilt University. A program that cost 32K $ reduced healthcare spending, i.e. medical and prescription drugs by 92.582 $, i.e. a net savings of 67.582 $. I have previously presented more economic benefits of a corporate well-being program in a detailed article.

Lifestyle Medicine with DNANUTRICOACH

Dr. Valentini Konstantinidou and her team partners with you and can build up, execute, and advise on how to start a Lifestyle Medicine approach in your team. Contact us via email at info@dnanutricoach.com or book a direct 15-minute video call to discuss your needs. Our corporate wellbeing programs are adjusted to each company, team, or organization for maximum ROI and productivity increase.